Carlos Sainz: “It was a hectic Friday, FP3 will be frantic for everyone” – F1 Japan GP. Williams driver Carlos Sainz reflects on a chaotic Friday in Suzuka.

Two sessions, same final position
A strange and not entirely satisfying Friday for Williams at Suzuka, with both drivers from the Grove-based team “stuck” in the same positions in the final standings of both FP1 and FP2 of the Japanese Grand Prix. While Carlos Sainz finished in 10th place, Alexander Albon ended right behind him in 11th.

The chaos of the day and FP2
For the former Ferrari driver, the first free practice session had actually provided positive feedback, though the Spaniard returned to the pits early in FP2 due to excessive bouncing. From that moment on, however, the team was no longer able to properly analyze the car’s behavior, not helped by four red flags: “A hectic Friday here in Suzuka,” explained Carlos Sainz. “During FP1 we managed to test a few things on the car and it went well. However, FP2 was interrupted several times and I wasn’t able to fully understand the things we wanted to try, even though it seemed like we were working in the right direction. Tomorrow’s FP3 will be frantic for everyone. There’s a lot to test and the wind direction will change, so the cars might feel very different compared to today. I hope Jack is feeling well after the crash and can return to the track tomorrow.”

Comments also came from Alex Albon, who joked about the two interruptions caused by small grass fires in the run-off area: “I think we need sprinklers! Maybe we weren’t as fast as we wanted, but today was a very confusing day. We know where we need to improve, so we’ll do some fine-tuning overnight. I feel good in the car, I’m confident, and I hope we can score some points this weekend.” – the Spanish driver concluded.